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Balteagh parish - a valuable census substitute 1828

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BALTEAGH PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATION There are no surviving pre-civil registration church registers for the parish of Balteagh, Limavady, which makes it difficult to trace early ancestry in the area. For those with Presbyterian roots in this scenic parish, however, the discovery of a petition by the newly formed congregation in 1828 provides wonderful detail on the families attached to the newly formed church. The petition was discovered in the National Archives, Ireland in Dublin in the files of the Chief Secretary's Office papers. The Official Papers series (OP) is a collection of incoming correspondence to the Chief Secretary’s Office (CSO) and the surviving papers cover the period 1790 through to 1880. The petition from Balteagh is found amongst a bundle of various papers relating to the payment of Regium Donum (NAI: OP1/685/2).  The Presbyterian congregation of Balteagh was established in 1823 by people originally attached to Drumachose Presbyterian congregation in Limavady (wh